Military vehicles carrying shore-to-ship missiles drive past the Tiananmen Gate during a military parade in Beijing. (AFP Photo)
China showed off more than a dozen long-range missiles billed by state media as "aircraft carrier-killers", at a huge military parade on Thursday.
The DF-21D intermediate-range anti-ship ballistic missiles, which analysts have said could be effective against US aircraft carriers in the Pacific, rolled through Tiananmen Square in Beijing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping lauded his country's position as a major world power as Beijing marked the 70th anniversary of victory over Japan with the giant show of strength.
Speaking on the Tiananmen Rostrum where Mao Zedong declared the formation of the People's Republic in 1949, Xi said "total victory" over Japan "restored China's status as a major country in the world".